Climate protester restrained after interrupting NSW parliament – as it happened

Thanks for joining us today. Here were our key headlines:

• Australia engineer Robert Pether, released from an Iraqi prison after more than five years over a contract dispute, has again asserted his innocence and said he was hours from death when he was finally freed.

• The Northern Territory is set to legalise the use of OC spray (also known as pepper spray), citing a 99% success rate in its trial. Availability will also be expanded, with 16 and 17-year-olds allowed to carry the spray with parental permission, the NT government said.

• A climate protester was restrained by NSW MPs after he climbed over a barrier to interrupt question time to protest against the approval of the Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) coalmine extension by the state’s Independent Planning Commission last month.

• The Liberal National MP Angie Bell was forced to withdraw a comment on the floor of the House of Representatives that the small business minister, Anne Aly, and prime minister, Anthony Albanese, should be “stoned in the square” over a tax office decision. Aly later condemned the comments.

• Retailers are using the credit card surcharge ban to justify larger price increases, according to UBS economists.

• And the eSafety commissioner says it “does not have powers to proactively prevent” the livestreaming of a US military execution, but says it will monitor and enforce existing standards that could obligate online platforms to block it themselves.

Thanks for joining us – we’ll be back again tomorrow morning.

The Labor minister Anne Aly has responded powerfully to a “racist … misogynistic” comment on the floor of parliament after the Liberal National MP Angie Bell said Aly should be “stoned in the square” over a tax office decision.

Bell was forced to withdraw the comment, also directed at the prime minister.

Aly has also revealed the awful reality that she has received 19 death threats on social media in the past week alone.

On Instagram, Aly said:

I don’t usually comment about these sorts of things, but I feel like I have to. This past week alone, I’ve had 19 death threats on my social media. And in the past I’ve had death threats that are couched in that exact same language.

Stone her.

It’s not just something that a parliamentarian shouldn’t say in terms of advocating violence against another parliamentarian. It is something that stands against our Australian values.

We are a country that proudly stands against violence against women and against regimes that usual brutal methods like stoning against women.

This is not just something that we should just turn away from.

It is racist.

It is misogynistic.

And it is something that should never have been said.

NSW police say no further action is expected after this afternoon’s protest at state parliament against the approval of the extension of the Hunter Valley Operations mine.

In a statement, a police spokesperson said at about 12.35pm on Tuesday, a man “jumped from the public gallery onto the floor the NSW Parliament Legislative Assembly during question time”.

“He was removed from the room by NSW Police Special Constables and issued a move on direction which he complied with. No further police action is expected at this time.”

David Saliba, one of the MPs involved in restraining protester Andrew Sneddon after he jumped from the gallery, told Channel Nine that MPs were surprised by a loud noise as Sneddon landed on the chamber floor.

It was pretty bad, I think at the time because our backs were towards it. [I] heard it, [I] reacted as best I could, and to see all the other MP faces as well being a bit shocked by it all. Not the way to get your message across.

Speaking in question time after the protest, the NSW attorney general, Michael Daley, said in 21 years in parliament, he had “never seen a member of the gallery jump on to the floor of the house”, calling Sneddon a “ratbag”.

“It is completely unacceptable behaviour, this is the people’s house, it is open to the public in ways that many parliaments around Australia and the world are not and we would like to keep it that way.”

In a statement, the NSW Greens justice spokesperson, Sue Higginson, said that “non-violent protests that inconvenience people in the pursuit of global survival should be listened to and understood, and I’ve been told that the last time someone entered the NSW Parliament floor was the suffragettes fighting for the vote”.

The climate crisis is going to get worse, and people that have copped the fires and floods and droughts will rightly come to our democratic institutions for accountability and to have their voices heard.

One Nation migration cuts won’t stop skilled workers coming to Australia, Hanson says

Pauline Hanson has told an Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry event at Parliament House that One Nation won’t stop skilled workers coming into the country.

Despite promising cuts to net overseas migration (Nom) of more than 750,000 people over three years, Hanson says business won’t lose out.

“We are not going to hold back any business that requires skilled labour coming to the country,” she says.

“We’re not attacking that.”

Hanson says workers coming into the country on the Pacific Island Labour Mobility Scheme, as well as working holidaymakers and other skilled workers will be allowed into Australia.

“That skilled migration program, of skills that we need. No more Uber drivers. No more tax accountants and all this rest of it that we don’t need.”

Under Hanson’s plan, released last month, temporary visa numbers would be returned to 2017 levels, under what One Nation says would represent a net-negative arrivals rate for the first three years. That would mean the net overseas migration total would be 130,000 under the One Nation plan.

Economists, immigration experts and key sectors, including universities and aged care, all say the policy will damage the economy and cause worker shortages.

One of Australia’s most notorious paedophiles has had abuse hurled at him in court after a move interstate to face 180 more charges was approved, AAP reports.

A victim supporter vented her fury at the former childcare worker Ashley Paul Griffith, 48, in Brisbane magistrates court on Tuesday, screaming: “Rot! Rot! Fire! Brimstone! Burn!”

Griffith was jailed for life with a non-parole period of 27 years in Queensland in November 2024 after pleading guilty to 307 child sexual offences.

He has also been charged in New South Wales with 180 child sexual offences allegedly committed against 23 girls at a childcare centre in Sydney between 2014 and 2017.

Magistrate Belinda Merrin was told an application had been filed on 13 July on behalf of the NSW attorney general, Michael Daley.

That followed an application on 26 June by Queensland attorney general, Deb Frecklington, who had unsuccessfully asked for the transfer to be fast-tracked.

The application was not opposed by Griffith’s barrister Matt Black.

The path for Griffith to be transferred to face the NSW charges was cleared in June after his appeal against the severity of his Queensland sentence was dismissed.

Merrin did not specify a date or time for Griffith’s transfer.

Throughout two decades of preying on children in Queensland, Griffith filmed all but one of his victims, building a vast cache of abuse he shared online.

When detectives raided his Gold Coast home in 2022, they seized more than 4,000 child abuse images and videos documenting much of his offending.

The offences related to more than 60 victims aged between one and nine, including 28 rapes of preschool-aged girls in Queensland childcare centres.

Northern Territory to legalise OC spray for people as young as 16

The Northern Territory is set to legalise the use of OC spray, citing a 99% success rate in its trial.

Availability will also be expanded, with 16 and 17-year-olds allowed to carry the spray with parental permission, the NT government says.

OC (oleoresin capsicum) spray is also know as pepper spray. It causes immediate inflammation and severe burning sensation in the eyes, skin and respiratory tract.

“Territorians have embraced OC spray for self-defence and made it clear they want to continue to have access and they want to see that access expanded to younger people,” says the chief minister, Lia Finocchiaro.

“During the trial, we had a lot of feedback about OC spray only being available to people aged 18 years and over, with many parents telling us that they wanted their 16 and 17-year-olds to have access as well.”

Eligible people aged 16 and 17 will be able to buy, possess, carry and use controlled OC spray, with consent required from parents or guardians who must not be prohibited persons.

Pepper spray provides a self-defence option for young people, many of whom held down night-time jobs, Finocchiaro says.

Availability will also be extended to roles in security, hospitality, crowd control and licensed venues.

Western Australia is the only other jurisdiction in the country allowing the general sale of OC spray.

Deputy opposition leader asked about MP’s ‘stoning’ comment

Back on Afternoon Briefing on the ABC, the deputy opposition leader, Ted O’Brien, is asked about comments from the member for Moncrieff, Angie Bell, who said in parliament the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and small business minister, Anne Aly, should be “shamed and stoned in the square” over the tax office’s decision to ban credit cards being used to pay tax bills.

Bell was forced to withdraw the comments, made on the floor of the House of Reps.

“Look, Angie was the first then to hop up and withdraw her comments,” O’Brien says, before pivoting to praising Bell’s willingness to “fight” for her electorate.

However, pushed by Patricia Karvelas, O’Brien concedes “tone and language” matter in politics.

“And that is why she did the right thing by withdrawing.”

Joyce challenges Chalmers to economic debate

One Nation treasury spokesperson, Barnaby Joyce, has challenged Jim Chalmers to a debate on the economy.

Speaking at Parliament House in Canberra, Joyce, who defected from the Nationals last year, says he has “a rough idea” what he’s doing in the portfolio.

“I’m happy to pull myself up against Chalmers any day of the week, if you want to line it up, I’ll have a lot of fun there,” he says.

He says he is happy to debate Tim Wilson, the shadow treasurer, as well, but concedes One Nation is “not out to kill the Coalition”.

“We’re out to get rid of the socialist government. We believe it’s a socialist government. I was thinking this morning … what happens if there wasn’t One Nation who weren’t doing the job we’re doing?

“Australia would be a very depressing place because you know you’re in the status quo. You know it’s stagnant.”

The One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, says economic conditions in Australia are the worst since the Great Depression, including for business operators, the manufacturing sector and the homeless.

“I have never seen the country as bad as this, as what I am seeing at the moment,” she has told an Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry event in Canberra.

“Politics in Australia is changing. It’s changing because people have never done as tough as what they are now.

“I don’t think I remember a time, apart from the depression, that I have heard about, [with] the number of people who are homelesses in our country, the number of small businesses that have gone insolvent.”

A few more things from Anthony Albanese’s interview with Patricia Karvelas.

The prime minister confirms he will attend the Cop31 climate conference – Australia is joint host – in Turkey next month.

It’s been in my diary for some time.

I’ve been invited specifically by President Erdogan, the relationship with Turkey is a very important one.

And I think it sends a really good message that you essentially have leadership of this Cop from Turkey and Australia, two countries that are geographically very, very distant, have different economies, different cultures, but which are working together in the interests of humanity.

The PM is asked his opinion of the Trump administration considering livestreaming the execution by firing squad of former US soldier Nidal Hasan, convicted of killing 13 people in a mass shooting on a military base more than a decade ago.

Australia has had a bipartisan position of opposition to the death penalty. And I find the idea of livestreaming the death of anybody completely abhorrent. We should do whatever we can to stop that occurring.

I don’t know why anyone would want themselves to watch such an event, let alone sit back and allow potentially kids and families to get access to this.

It has no place as far as I’m concerned.

Pauline Hanson is speaking at the same time as the PM.

The One Nation leader is attending a conference hosted by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Parliament House.

She slams the Albanese government over its handling of the economy, including the Australian Taxation Office ban on credit cards and tough conditions for small business operators.

Hanson says she and One Nation’s treasury spokesperson, Barnaby Joyce, have experience running small businesses, something she says is in contrast with the Labor frontbench.

“One Nation wants Australia to be the best place in the world to do business,” Hanson says. “Not one of the best. The best.”

Hanson has called for government to get out of the way of business operators, to cut red tape and provide sustainable energy supply.

Albanese denies his government is in a ‘midterm slump’

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is appearing on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing program.

He is taken to comments he made to his own caucus that the government “would be kicking with the wind in the fourth quarter” (an Australian rules reference from a rugby league-following PM).

Albanese is asked whether this is a concession his government is in a “midterm slump”.

No, what it means is that you need to make sure that we continue to be focused on the needs of Australians.

We need to make sure as well that we’re focused on, where are we at, a year ahead, 10 years ahead.

How do we set Australia up for the stronger future?

Albanese also – uninvited – reflects on the former Kooyong MP Josh Frydenberg “stalking” the opposition leader, Angus Taylor. Frydenberg has published a book, seen as an undeclared, and as yet uncommitted – but still very public – consideration of a return to politics.

Detained democracy campaigner to meet consular officials in Vietnam

The detained Australian democracy campaigner Tran Hiep will be able to meet Australian consular officials in Vietnam for the first time since his sudden arrest nearly a month ago.

The 51-year-old hasn’t been directly heard from since before he failed to board his flight from the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, on 18 September after meeting with human rights defenders.

Vietnamese authorities confirmed he had been arrested and charged with alleged terrorism and forging identity documents and it’s understood he is being held in Ho Chi Minh City’s B34 pre-trial detention centre.

Hiep’s wife, Chloe Dang, has told Guardian Australia he will soon be granted his first in-person visit with consular officials though contact with his family is still not allowed.

Thank you all for following along on the blog with me today.

I’ll leave you with the great Ben Doherty for the rest of the afternoon, and see you here bright and early tomorrow!

Some more from the NSW parliament, where the state government has introduced legislation to establish the Great Koala national park.

The member for the Blue Mountains, Trish Doyle, who introduced the bill said the state forests in the legislation would only be incorporated in the new park once the Clean Energy Regulator had formally recognised the associated carbon project.

Penny Sharpe said 13% of the 178,000 hectares would be designated regional reserve, rather than national park, to allow recreational activities such as bushwalking, trail-bike riding, camping and four-wheel driving to continue, as well as dog walking in select reserves. She said this decision followed community feedback.

The bill would allow the minister to approve motor racing events on existing regional roads in regional parks within the Great Koala national park, “recognising the long history of car rally events in the region”.

The government said it continued to support affected forestry workers, with the bill containing a provision enabling Forestry Corporation staff to be appointed to suitable roles within NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.

NSW government introduces bill to establish Great Koala national park

The New South Wales government has introduced legislation to establish the long-promised Great Koala national park.

The new park will add more than 178,000 hectares of state forest to the national parks estate, with the government estimating it will protect 12,000 koalas, 36,000 gliders and more than 100 threatened species.

The park will go ahead after a contentious regulatory change by the Albanese government allowing state governments to earn carbon credits by storing carbon dioxide in native forests on public land.

Combined with existing national parks and reserves, it will be one of the largest parks in NSW, creating a protected area spanning more than 475,000 hectares.

The NSW environment minister, Penny Sharpe, said:

The Great Koala national park is one of the most important things we can do to save koalas in NSW. It is also about creating an area that people can explore and enjoy for generations.

State parliament will debate the bill next week and the government hopes the park will be officially gazetted and opened by the end of the year.

Government pay offer falls short, public service union says

The main public sector union says the federal government’s offer of a 9% pay rise over the next three years falls short of expectations.

The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) put a 5% pay rise each year or equal to CPI – whichever is higher – which it said had been endorsed by more than 18,000 members.

The CPSU’s newly elected national secretary, Rebecca Fawcett, said the union would speak with members once more about next steps.

CPSU members [have] been clear from the beginning of these negotiations: they want to see pay that keeps up with the cost of living, which recognises the essential work they do every day. The APS-wide pay offer that has been tabled today falls short of what our members asked for, and what public sector workers deserve. This is now in our members’ hands. They will decide whether it is good enough, and the union will continue to fight for a pay offer that respects these vital workers, and the important services they deliver to the community.

A climate protester has been restrained by NSW MPs after he climbed over a barrier to interrupt question time to protest against the approval of the Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) coalmine extension by the state’s Independent Planning Commission last month.

Earlier this afternoon, question time was interrupted for several minutes by the protest, during which eight activists from environmental advocacy group Rising Tide threw pages of government and academic climate reports into the chamber, including the Net Zero Commission’s report on coalmining emissions, which said mine expansions are against the state’s legislated emissions reduction targets.

In the parliamentary livestream, MPs appeared shocked before the speaker, Greg Piper, cut the feed. Footage shared by the group Rising Tide, which organised the protest, showed two MPs, independent MP Michael Regan and Labor MP David Saliba, helping parliamentary staff restrain one protester who climbed over the barrier.

In a statement, the protester, Andrew Sneddon, said he had been driven to do so by “the Minns government’s failure to address the climate crisis”.

We need a government that listens to its own experts, stops approving new fossil fuel projects and delivers an urgent, fair transition for coal workers and communities.

As the world hurtles towards climate catastrophe, we cannot stand by in silence. If our government won’t act with the urgency this crisis demands, everyday people like myself are forced to step up.

The Minns government has been contacted for comment.